Life Cycle of Plants! Wiki
Welcome to the Life Cycle of Plants! This educational wiki is designed for second grade students to create lesson summary pages and engage in peer discussion as they collaborate and share comments, links, and other information pertinent to our science unit plan on the Life Cycle of Plants. The true purpose of this wiki is to allow students to take ownership of their learning, think more critically and independently, and become more relaxed with the knowledge they acquire in class and outside of class. Why are we Exploring the Life Cycle of Plants? I chose to create a unit plan on plants because I feel as though it really affords the children with extensive opportunity to experience the joy of learning through hands-on investigation. By watching the seeds germinate right before their eyes, their minds will also sprout with new knowledge. Studying plants helps students recognize patterns and changes in natural life cycles. The study of plants builds a foundation for future more in depth exploration of cellular structures and functions of the vast world of living organisms in our natural environment. How will we Explore the Life Cycle of Plants? Children are naturally curious, and encouraging them to explore the natural world they experience everyday, helps foster a deeper understanding of how it all works. From my tea?ching experience, I’ve come to better understand that teaching and learning through inquiry builds on this natural curiosity and increases intellectual engagement. As teachers we guide the students through their questioning and encourage them to think critically. Through i ndependent/collaborative investigation, children begin to take responsibility for their own learning. One element of inquiry that I found crucial in learning, across all ages, is the autonomy it affords the learner. Through inquiry-based learning children become the center of their own learning. As children investigate their own questions, curiosities, and interests, they intrinsically motivate themselves making the learning process more organic and enjoyable. As a result, conceptual meaning then becomes solid and relevant, which is of course an important aspect that we wish to achieve as teachers; thinking based on the cognitive process of abstraction and conceptualization. In an effort to teach technical conceptualization and provide differentiation among the students, this unit was designed to reach all types of learners and their unique style of thinking. To attain this goal of abstract understanding and make connections through learning, I devised interactive hand-on activities that follow the growth of full-grown plants from seedlings. A variety of engaging art projects complement lessons within this unit to support the scientific journey from seed to adult plant. In order to provide additional differentiation and afford students with autonomy in their learning, ongoing student investigations will be recorded in individualized open-ended Botany Journals which allows each student to investigate their own questions, curiosities, and interests in a manner fit to their abilities. What have we Learned? Lesson 1 (Week 1): Exploration of Science Skills Lesson 2 (Week 2): Structure of Plants Lesson 3 (Week 3): Seeds/Germination Lesson 4 (Week 4): Roots and Nutrition Lesson 5 (Week 5): Types of Plants/Diversity of Plants Lesson 6 (Week 6): Effect of Light on Plants 'What's been going on??' Photos and videos are a great way to add visuals to your wiki. Find videos about your topic by exploring Wikia's Video Library. Category:Browse